Virgin Atlantic puts rumours about flights with cannabis drinks to rest

It turns out the announcement was just a marketing stunt

Rowan Dunne

Published

3 hours ago

Cannabis-infused beverage creator Drippy claimed that British airline Virgin Atlantic was going to start serving its beverages on select American flights this week. But, the world has now learned that the claim, its associated video, social media posts and forged letter were merely a marketing scheme.

In a statement provided to Marijuana Moment on Thursday, a representative stated that the story from Drippy was “entirely inaccurate” and that Virgin Atlantic has “no partnership with this brand.”

A couple publications did buy into the announcement though. The renowned beverage industry publication BevNet wrote an article about the alleged in-flight THC sodas before removing it after realizing what was going on. Also, The Marijuana Herald.

“The below story, which we received via press release, is apparently a fake story fabricated by Drippy Soda in order to receive free media attention,” said The Marijuana Herald.

The cannabis publication added that it would be sure to triple-check all future stories before hitting the publish button.

“It’s too bad this is a completely fabricated, gorilla marketing campaign that caught two news sources off guard, because this would be pretty amazing if it were true, ” commented weed lawyer Jefferey Schultz. “Good on them for shining a spotlight on our federal government’s hypocrisy, I guess?”

Virgin doesn’t even have domestic U.S. flights

Drippy had lied by saying that its THC-infused sodas would be up for purchase on U.S. domestic flights between Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and New York. On LinkedIn, the company received several comments congratulating it about the purported partnership.

The beverage producer then admitted to the elaborate ruse on X and said that Virgin does not even fly within the U.S. The airline only flies in and out of the country on route to international destinations.

“We’re calling it: the greatest marketing stunt in cannabis beverage history, all 5 minutes of it,” Drippy wrote. “We made the whole thing up.”

Marijuana Moment inquired to Drippy about whether it had any concerns about legal ramifications for the falsehood, but the drink maker did not respond.

Drippy said the purpose behind the marketing ploy was to highlight its opinion about the restrictions on what people can consume while they are in the air.

“Why? Because the real joke is that you can down three vodkas at 30,000 feet, but not sip a fast-acting THC-infused drink designed to help you relax without the hangover,” the California-based beverage brewer stated.